Free Press / News retail price increasing to $1

**BShea** · September-17-09, 02:05 PM

By Bill Shea

Beginning Oct. 5, the Monday through Saturday retail price of the Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News will increase to $1.

The Sunday Free Press newsstand price will remain $1.50 in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties, but will increase starting on Oct. 4 to $2 outside of that area, and the promotional $1 price for the Sunday paper offered by some participating dealers also ends then.

http://www.crainsdetroit.com/article...FREE/909179977

**65memories** · September-17-09, 02:23 PM

Sad...say goodbye to one of the two, probably the News. Ultimately, say goodbye to print journalism as we know it.
Unfortunately, most people...especially young people...don't read the daily paper anymore...and too many get their news from hucksters like Limbaugh, Hannity and the Drudge report. Sad.

**Detroitnerd** · September-17-09, 02:35 PM

Premature eulogies for print aside, newspapers don't sell because they want to do it on the cheap without offending advertisers. And they are slitting their own throats. When the product is good enough, people do pay for it.

lilpup · September-17-09, 03:24 PM

People pay $1.00 for USA Today already. The Sunday New York Times is up to $6 at the newsstands.

**pffft** · September-17-09, 03:57 PM

Newspapers have been underpriced for years, with the idea that it would boost circulation [[and therefore ad rates). That causes people to undervalue journalism. A cup of coffee is worth $3, but a newspaper isn't worth a buck?

**65memories** · September-17-09, 04:14 PM

pfft...if you're paying three dollars for a cup of coffee you're paying way too much. My only point is that with so many ways to get news [[or a semblance of news) these days, young people will not pay an increased amount for the daily paper. The days of Doc Greene, Jim Fitzgerald and Neil Shine are over.

**pffft** · September-17-09, 04:22 PM

Do clue me in on how you get local news, apart from the newspapers...and don't mention radio or TV, who rely 90% on ripping and reading from the papers.

lilpup · September-17-09, 04:25 PM

I deliver national papers at night [[NY Times, Wall St. Journal, USA Today, Financial Times, Investor's Business Daily) and have seen a more than 7% increase in home subscribers on my route since late June.

**Rocko** · September-17-09, 06:30 PM

Hmmm, maybe they'll forget to upgrade my favorite paper box downtown... or else they'll just do away with paper boxes entirely, I know they are trying to steer away from them, which seems strange to me, because the couple that I frequent downtown, even by 11am, are almost empty often. I mean, I know they don't get filled the way they used to, often they are only stocked with 10-15 copies, but those go rather fast. I just pulled the second to last Detroit News out of the box on the corner of Cass and Fort yesterday.

Strange thing, at least two pairs of new paperboxes [[both Detroit News and Free Press) showed up along Cass at the Rosa Parks Transit Center when it opened. About two weeks ago, one of the pairs disappeared. How strange.... those always were empty by afternoon, and they were new and shiny....and, perhaps most importantly, they were stocked on Saturday, whereas most downtown paper boxes only have papers Mon-Fri.

Maybe no one will patronize paper boxes if the price goes up to a dollar. I think I will, though I already have enough fun hunting around for nickels dimes and quarters. I'm youngish [[mid 20s) and try to read the paper every day, though it doesn't always work out.

**daddeeo** · September-17-09, 07:48 PM

Are they going to increase the content?
I don't mind paying extra for a NY Times because there is a lot of news in it. They have some meat in that paper.
The News and Free Press seem to be smaller and smaller except when they have extra ads inserted. Unless they improve and expand the content, this is the beginning of the end of these papers. Not enough people will fork over a buck for those thin rags.

**Johnnny5** · September-17-09, 07:50 PM

Originally Posted by pffft

Do clue me in on how you get local news, apart from the newspapers...and don't mention radio or TV, who rely 90% on ripping and reading from the papers.

Ever hear of the Internet?

**Ltdave** · September-17-09, 07:59 PM

and too many get their news from hucksters like Kaplan, Maddow, Franken, Garafalo and the Democratic Underground. Sad.

there fixed it for you...

**pffft** · September-17-09, 08:09 PM

Originally Posted by Johnnny5

Ever hear of the Internet?

Local news on the Internet comes from d'oh ...local newspapers.

**oldredfordette** · September-17-09, 09:24 PM

I think it's another really stupid decision, latest in a series of really stupid decisions. They keep chipping away at their remaining core of readers."We're gonna give you less, and make it more difficult for you to get it, and charge you more!" They operate in Bizarro World.

2blocksaway · September-17-09, 09:36 PM

I hate the new format of the Freep. The summaries on the first pages suck. I want the story to start on the first page and I want it to be good enough to make me turn the page.

I switched from the Freep to the News because I think the "easy reading" format of the Freep is a major intellectual step down.

**jhartmich** · September-17-09, 09:37 PM

I'm just tired of them trying to MAKE NEWS more than reporting it.

**Detroitej72** · September-17-09, 09:41 PM

They really are trying their damnedest to kill off their last few readers like myself.

**tahleel** · September-17-09, 09:44 PM

I read somewhere that 2/3's the revenue of the newspaper goes towards the cost of printing it. Newspaper HAS been underpriced for years. Once you get the 1/3's and subtract the cost of packaging, delivering, and etc, there isn't much left. Sadly, there are other methods to send out information, that is cheaper. The newspaper is dying.

As far as the newspaper box, I'm sure people pay for one, and take all of them, only to resell on the streets later.

-Tahleel

**daddeeo** · September-17-09, 11:30 PM

Yeah, I see a lot of people on the streets selling newspapers these days!
Cost of the actual paper used to cover distribution [[newsboys, drivers etc). The paper's reporters, staff etc. is usually covered by the ads.

**reddog289** · September-18-09, 12:46 AM

I bought both the papers on Thursday, Only because of Ernie.Only cause they are going to Florida. Get the Freep delivered but maybe not for long. I only really read Fridays paper anyway. As I said before I missed the daily delivery at first, But have come to live without it.Sundays Freep in my mind is a shell of its former self. Most of the ads are for places I don't shop at, and the coupons are for things I don't buy.If and when I drop my sub to the Freep, I can still save $6 bucks a month by just buying Fridays Freep or the News.

**pffft** · September-18-09, 08:58 AM

If living in Bizarro World means not laying off reporters, photogs, etc., then I'm all for it.

**Lowell** · September-18-09, 09:13 AM

Raising news stand rates makes sense if they reduce subscription rates to next to nothing. The only thing advertisers are interested in is how many people actually view pages where their ads are located.

Magazines follow this model. For instance I get WIRED, a glossy full-color stylish tech magazine, delivered to me by mail for $1 an issue. There is no way in the world that can be printed and mailed for that, let alone pay the writers, staff and a profit to the owners.

The problem facing daily news is that their content is so perishable. By the time it hits the street it is obsolete, often grabbed by TV or the internet outlets. They are in the same squeeze as retail outlets who do all the sales work, hands on previewing and then watch the customer buy if from some internet discounter with no overhead and no sales tax.

This in turn is conditioning a non-print generation. I know a lot of under 25's, true digital natives, who never read hard copy. Tough times for print and I see no way out.

**Detroitnerd** · September-18-09, 10:25 AM

The only answer is tough, you-can-only-find-it-here reporting and analysis. NOT offered for free on the Internet.

Some of the Detroit newspapers that I love to peruse are VERY hard to find. They're in the Burton scrapbooks, 1880-1920. Amazingly entertaining to read. These people had some strong opinions, and weren't afraid to call out city leaders as fools and criminals. Yes, there's actual reporting, but it's so vibrant, a century later, that I'll while away time at the microfilm reader just to check it out!

Instead, our daily newspapers try to run AP reporting, fire court reporters and shut down local bureaus, all in the name of running it more cheaply.

Honestly, though, I think they're trying to crash the papers, so they can bypass the JOA and just merge completely, firing more people and driving quality down further.

**daddeeo** · September-18-09, 10:52 AM

Newspapers are good when they have in-depth articles that are not summed up in two paragraphs.
The Freep seems like a cheap version of US TODAY.
The old fashioned stories that you have to jump a page to finish are what makes the difference between short blurbs on the TV or radio. You get background and details that TV and radio either gloss over or don't have the time to fully inform you.
That's the main reason why we need newspapers.

**Bigb23** · September-21-09, 11:10 AM

Originally Posted by Johnnny5

Ever hear of the Internet?

Is it too hard to believe that in this economy, that some of us can't afford the luxury of home internet, and now $1.00 newspapers ? Increasingly, I find myself less a part of the world only on the basis of money.
I guess from now on, I'll have to rely on the T.V. news only, where they give a snippet of news and tell you to find out more about it on their website.

Oh, by the way, I'm writing this on the library computer, which is a twenty mile round trip for me.